Michael Jordan Reveals His ‘Flu Game’ in NBA Finals Was Actually Food Poisoning

KJ EdelmanMay 18th, 2020, 10:28 am
 

Michael Jordan‘s infamous flu game in the 1997 NBA Finals — so famous it has a shoe named after it — isn’t entirely accurate, Jordan revealed in “The Last Dance” documentary Sunday night. He actually didn’t have the flu — he just had food poisoning from bad pizza.

The original story feels like a myth. Jordan was so ill before a crucial Game 5 in the Finals that it didn’t look like he would play. The then-four time NBA champion suited up, but struggled early on because he was sick. But with the series tied 2-2 against the Utah Jazz, Jordan played 44 minutes and scored 38 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with under a minute left.

It’s a classic that’s re-told over-and-over again. Now, the story has a new wrinkle.

On the night of June 10, 1997, Jordan was starving, but nothing was open to order food near his Utah hotel. Eventually, he found a pizza place.

“Five guys [were] delivering one pizza,” said Tim Grover, Jordan’s personal trainer. “They’re all trying to look in. I take the pizza. I pay them. I put this pizza down. I say, ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this pizza,’” Grover said.

After Grover and a couple other members of Jordan’s crew recalled the story, they decided they wouldn’t eat the pizza. But Jordan said he was too hungry.

“I ate the pizza,” Jordan said. “All by myself. Nobody else ate the pizza. I wake up about 2:30 throwing up left and right.”

This new revelation — 23 years after the fact — has sparked even more controversy. Many have asked why it took that many years to correct the “flu game” and why the name of the pizza place hasn’t been revealed. Some have jokingly referred to it as “pizza gate,” which is a more light-hearted take on a 2016 political conspiracy.

Watch above, via ESPN.

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